pours orange copper with a light tan two finger head which holds to about half with excellent lacing to the finish. floral, citrus, piney aromas, toasted malt, citrus, spice, and pepper hop taste finish. medium body, good carbonation, with a dry hop, after taste. if it was not for the 8.5 abv i would drink it all night, oh what the hell who cares. keep pouring.

12oz bottle in a 4pk. I cannot believe this beer. A total revamp of their otherwise malty imperial IPA. This new label and liquid is superb. Floral, hoppy and just straight up balanced and delicious. I suggest if you doubt these guys then you owe it to yourself to try this beer. I like their legacy ipa and pale (which has been tasting better lately too)

T: For 85 IBU's this seems incredibly well-balanced. Must be a lot of low cohumolone hops, with a little residual sweetness. Pine, grass, grapefruit, orange, peach, spice, bread, nuts, light caramel, toffee. cotton-candy-like fruity esters and some amarillo asprin in the finish. Under all these flavours, the alcohol is very subtle.

I actually used the word "perfect" to describe the appearance of this beer. A small, fleeting white head atop an absolutely transparent amber. The aroma is very hoppy. Pine and citrus dominate the smell here. The hops are crushingly bitter with not only citrus and pine, but a few herbal and grassy notes in between. It has a soft, oily texture and leaves the tongue a bit chalky feeling and exhausted. Brilliant!(rated Jan 30, 2007)

This poured a clear golden brown with light tan head. It smelled like mild lemon and pine hops with some malt. It tasted like a nice blend of strong copper and pine hops with some malt for balance. It was moderately thick with a bit of carbonation and a surprisingly tolerable bitter aftertaste. There was no noticeable alcohol taste, despite the ABV. Overall this was quite good! It was easy to drink, had a nice flavor, but wasn't too strong like other Imperials. (If anything it was too weak!)

Pours a dark cherry red with a lacy white head. Hoppy and bitterly sweet aroma with a lot of citrus and a bitter grapefruit and light orange are prevalent in the taste. A sweetness comes from the malts and mixes very well with the a hop oil taste that leaves a pleasantly bitter aftertaste.

A damn good DIPA, extremely drinkable for the style. Saranac has always had a bevy of solid brews, but this is the first "great" one I have had from them.

The best Saranac product I've tasted to date - maybe not quite an "Imperial" IPA but one which I thoroughly enjoyed. It began right at the start when the strong hop aroma intrigued me and then the amber pour with exellent lacing further attracted me.

The taste is piney with plenty of hop bitterness but no harshness of note. Hops dominate the flavor but a dry finish leaves no unusually bitter aftertaste. The alcohol level seemed about right to me for this type of product.

My only complaint is that it's apparently only a seasonal product and a fresh bottle is now becoming harder to find. Hope it returns soon.

IPA the way its suppose to be.A beer that will be great as it ages, but great fresh too.Pours an orange/amber with aroma of hops that jumps right out at you, even a dedicated hop head.Carbonation level is a bit light, which makes the beer more drinkable than it should be, especially with a high alcohol content.An IPA worth investing in, even at nine bucks a six, drink a few now and stow away the rest for next winter.

Thick rich deeply sweet malt slathers down a bedrock foundation. Juicy fruit flows over while a tingle builds along the edge of the tongue and mouth. That tingle becomes a ferocious bite at the swallow. Fruit and bitter tingle entwine in the aftertaste.

Nice smooth well integrated mouthfeel. Excellent drinkability.

Saranac comes out to play with the big boys, and makes the varsity. It's no HopSlam, but it's damn impressive and far exceeded my expectations.

IPA is my favorite style. Initially this IPA was too bitter for me but I kept going back. It grows on you with time & I now enjoy the bitter kick of this brew. It is still a little short of my favorite IPA (Sweetwater) but is still excellent. To those who find the bitterness too overpowering, I suggest you sample it a few more times and I bet you keep coming back. It is very comparable to some far moree expensive brews & an excellent value.

WOW!!! For under $7/6-pack, how could this beer be beat. I found this at the local liquor store, figured that the dust on the bottles meant that it was ready to be drank, I did, and it was! Sometimes it pays to live in a "fill in the blank" Light town.

Deep orange/amber color with a semi-solid white head dissapating to basically nothing quickly. Bubbles rise within, really appealing. Smelled of piney-citrus hops, very nice, very bold. Taste was equal to smell, hops are the primary sensation then giving way to a subtle malty finish. Just enough bite for my taste without going to an extreme, just on the border of a barleywine to me. Mouthfeel was good as well. Felt like carbonation was right on target. Overall, glad I had this after it aged a bit. So far the best Saranac that I've ever had... can't wait to try the Imperial Stout!

I am surprised this beer isn't getting higher ratings, and I think a lot of people are reluctant to rate the beer higher, simply because it's made by Saranac and not Stone or some other acclaimed, top-notch brewery.

In my opinion, this ranks up with the best double IPA's.

What really gets me about this beer is that it's incredibly well-rounded and exceptionally smooth. The head-retention of this beer is astounding, and remains from pour to finish, leaving a nice lacing on the glass.

The aroma of this beer is of very fruity, floral hops.

Again, the flavor is perfectly balanced, and with very piney and fruity hop notes.

As far as the drinkability of this beer is concerned, its smoothness makes it near-quaffable, despite its 8.5% alcohol content, which can definitely pack a major punch if you're knocking these babies back like they're Becks.

I highly recommend this beer, so pick up a six pack or five while you still have the chance.

Poured a clear orange amber color with better than a full finger foamy head that was able to stick around . Pretty active effervescence and impressive lacing patterns observed. I've gotta give the A - better than good because of the foamy artwork.

The aroma is classic. Fresh hop and yet a nice balance of sweet malt.

Medium bodied mouth feel with a nice ting from hops and carbonation. Very creamy and smooth.

The mouth complements the flavor quite well. The flavor has that sweet malty characteristic with great hoppy notes; quite balanced.

Put me down as a fan. Tell me again what i paid for this? The 8.5% is hidden well beneath a wonderful complexity. Matt Brewing invested in this one and they have my attention.

I got a case of Saranac Imperial IPA from the Beer Yard in Wayne, Pa. I then poured all 130 IBUs into a flared pint glass:
Appearance: It poured about 4 fingers of head. The body was a nice amber color that was kind of light and a bit transparent. The head was a little off white. The rentention was medium, and the lacing was solid, a bit good, but not that abundant.
Smell: Kind of mild for 130 IBUs, but still decent. I was impressed with the complexities and nuances.
Taste: Again, not as much as I thought the bitterness was going to be. It was rather deep in them, however. I liked the idea that it should be super bitter, yet not offputting.
Mouthfeel: This suprisingly enough, had a very smooth feel.
Drinkability; This is certainly one of my faviorate beers.
Don't drink and review.

Pours a partly clear amber with reddish tones to it. A full finger of whitish-orange head slowly fades on top, leaving a ring of foam. Good lacing down the glass.

Full nectary and floral orange scent

This may be the juiciest DIPA I've had. Tons of citrus flavor without being overly sweet, enough malt sugars to suit my taste, and a strong but pleasant piney hop bitterness at the end. Incredibly well-balanced, and the alcohol provides a slight warming without intruding on the flavor.

Full, thick texture with just the right amount of carbonation.

DIPAs are highly subjective, I've come to realize, and I have to admit my bias - I lived in the Utica area for several years, so I have a touch of hometown pride coloring my view. I also tend to prefer a smoother, more balanced DIPA over something that's going to rip my tongue out with hop bitterness (Stone Ruination) or club me over the head with sugar and alcohol (Southern Tier Un-Earthly).

This doesn't have the complexity of Weyerbacher Double Simcoe or the puissance of Avery Maharaja, but it's my go-to beer for the foreseeable future (and at $25 a case, one of the best values in craft beer).

No idea why people are dogging this beer. It's fantastic, at 6.99 a six pack, a deal and then some. As many DIPA's are over-hopped, over-hyped messes, this one is balanced, low-key, complex, and what a DIPA should be. For the style its drinkability is outstanding. Just enough bitterness, to keep you guessing, just enough malts to make you want more. Rather fruity on the nose, show nicely in the glass, nothing outstanding, but hey, what is that isn't unfiltered and unpasteurized.

This beer pours a copper ton with not much of a head. The head is white and thin. The beer smell like it has been blended with at least two different aroma hops. I say that because I can't put my finger on the aroma pine or citrus? This being an IIPA I would think the hop aroma would be more prevalent. I think it has more of a malty smell. The taste also has more of a malt flavor then most IIPA's. The taste however is good and the hops and malt are well balanced. It leaves you with a crisp finish. It goes down a little thick, but it's an imperial what do you expect. Very drinkable, will drink again. The beer overall is well balanced. I think it needs more hops but, it's a good beer.

The pour is a clear dark straw with a bit of a head at first that quickly dissipates to nothing. The head is white with mostly small bubbles. The smell is a bit sweet and spicy but nothing overpowering. The feel is smooth with good carbonation and a bit heavy. Initial taste is a little tart with a very quick burst of hoppiness that lingers a long time. There is a slightly dry finish that leaves only the hops coating the mouth.